Hotel Cæsar

[MKA]

I'll come back with a summary of 2014 - what's been good, what could've been done better etc. - after the season final, so I'll guess some time during the Christmas week. However, I want to share some news about the show already now:

As I've stated earlier, the show got a new script producer earlier in 2014 - her first episodes was recorded from August and on, and they'll be shown on TV approx. after Easter 2015 - she'll "take the show more back to it's roots", and focus more on the family- and private life of the characters, as well as make it "younger" and make the show a bit "lighter" than what it has been the last 1-2 years. I think that'll be good, I've spoken to her and finds her ideas for the show very good. The intention to make the show "younger" hopefully will attract more young viewers to the show, helping to secure the show's future.

One of the original characters, Ninni Krogstad Anker-Hansen, is returning to the show in June 2015. She was played by Henriette Lien from 1998 to 2003 (with a break in 2000-01), but is now going to be played by Sølje Bergmann. Some of the fans don't like the recast, becuase Ninni is a very big character of the show, others, like me, finds it ok, since Ninni is such a big character. In addition, they've find an actress that resembles relatively much to the original actress. To sum up Ninni's story: The show started in 1998 with the romance of Georg Anker-Hansen and Ninni Krogstad, and they eventually got married in 1999. Following Georg's death later that year, Ninni inherited 20 % of the company and the position as CEO. A lot of drama followed (she for example got a baby with Georg's son, Jens August, named Georg "Goggen" Anker-Hansen jr.) and eventually, Ninni and Jens August got married in 2002. After the marriage, Ninni discovered Jens August had married her only to be able to secure the control of the company to the family (by falsing Georg's will), and she ended up shooting both Jens August and Arne Marcussen at a masquerade ball (they both had the same costume), killing Arne Marcussen and making Jens August temporarily blind. She was then imprisoned, but is now returning to the show after 12 years. Hopefully, you can see clips of both the filming of Ninni's comeback here and of Ninni's major moments in Hotel Cæsar here (plus some more photos of the filming of the comeback at the end of the article). I think this is going to be very great - and the return in itself will make a great moment, especially to see Juni's reaction when meeting Ninni for the first time in over 12 years... Hopefully though, the show stays on also in 2016 so that Ninni's comeback won't be to just end in the show getting cancelled some months later.

Six new "youth" characters are coming to the hotel in the Spring of 2015 (this is in line with Marie Hafting's strategy to make the show "younger"). Or, it's four new characters, one comeback and one recast. Jenny Augusta is currently being played by Camilla Aanonli, but Sofie Asplin is being recasted in the role - to make it possible to have the character more on screen. Aanonli still attends lower secondary school and hence can only play for some hours a week, while Asplin is at her final year at high school and has decided to take the final year by doing "self-studying" (as an external/private candidate). Most fans likes the way Aanonli plays the character, including myself, but on the other hand it's difficult to make great stories for the character with a such young actress, and Marie Hafting do as well have a point when saying that Asplin might resemble slightly more on Eva than Aanonli does. Georg "Goggen" Anker-Hansen jr. is making comeback after three years (studying at Harvard Business School, or acting in Scottland, as the actor did in real life), still played by Tarjei Westby. The rest of the new charaters incudes Amanda Martens (Evelyn Rasmussen Osazuwa), who Goggen brings with him back to Norway; Stian Borg (Arthur Hakalahti), a possible new love interest for Jenny Augusta; Joey Krogstad (Iver Innset), newphew of Pelle, and also a possible new love interest for Jenny Augusta (I guess we'll see a love triangle here); and Sarah Persen (Helene Langseth Solberg), new friend of Jenny Augusta. More about the new characters at TV 2's website here, but it's of course in Norwegian - however, you can see pictures of the new actors.

The preview of the spring season is available, and it looks just fabulous!! Can't wait to see this on screen

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Please press the captions icon to the right below the video for English subtitles.

[DRW50]

Did they ask the first actress who played Ninni?

Thanks for all the info.

[MKA]

Yep, I'm pretty sure about that. VG wrote an article with the title "The "new" Ninni is back in Hotel Cæsar ... but no-one wants to talk about the old Ninni", where they're trying to insinuate the opposite, writing the following: "Producer Alvestad will not say much about whether Henriette Lien has been offered the role. - She is busy with something else. But we are educated ("serious", "learned") people, so Lien is informed that the character will return." I can't say anything about the internal process, but I'm pretty sure they've tried to make Henriette Lien return first - after all, she "is" Ninni for the fans, and I believe they would do much to make Lien return. But she's been pretty clear for some years now that she doesn't see her self returning to the show, at least not in the foreseeable future. In the end, the question is whether one wants Ninni back and then accept a recast, or accept that Ninni won't come back, maybe even not before the series is cancelled - something I think would have been a pitty.

[MKA]

Last Thursday, the 2014 Finale was aired. A very good episode, with an a bit shocking twist at the end - even though we do know how it will go in the end... Anyway, this is one of the previews of the 2014 Finale - who will be shot; Juni Anker-Hansen, Arnfinn Lycke or (the intended) Erik "Edvin" Holte ("Anker-Hansen")?

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And this is the final 2 minutes of the finale:

Here you can see my friend Ole Johannes reaction while he was watching the 2014 Finale (the clip is edited from 23 to 12 minutes):

(Like his sister says at the end: we do know that Juni will survive. But as Ole Johannes says on YouTube, when Juni (both his and mine favourite character) is shot, we need to show some reaction, even though we know they never kills off biological members of the Anker-Hansen family (unless if it's due to age).)

[DRW50]

That was a great cliffhanger.

Who was the man who keeled over?

[MKA]

That's Arnfinn Lycke, who has been on the show since January 2011. He started off as a owner of a shipping company (fishing trawlers), but inherited some shares in the Anker-Hansen company and became more and more involved in the company over time, including being CEO for some time back in 2012 - and started a relationship with Juni (they later broke up). Later, he started off by himself, creating his own hotel chain, but in the end, Jens August used his "dirty tricks" (including getting Arnfinn forcibly admitted to a psychiatric hospital), and then taking control over his company. A lot of different stuff then happened, including Arnfinn being missing for a month after the boat explotion in June 2013, but earlier this autumn, he was diagnozed with an unspecified fatal disease. Before this, he started a relationship with Birte "Bitten" Lillevik, Albert's (Juni's son) ex-wife. While Arnfinn has been "on-and-off" ill during the autumn, Bitten has worked with her own project - "the intuition center", following her, well..., alternative ideas. In the season finale, they was supposed to get married, but in the car, Bitten tells Arnfinn that it's all a lie and that her love for him has never been real, she's only been after his money. After getting this message, Arnfinn became ill during the "wedding part" which ended up not being a wedding party, but some "celebration of love" following the cancelled wedding. As you see, Arnfinn ended up getting ill and collapsing in the elevator.

I guess Bitten actually does love Arnfinn in some degree, but that she believes it's all because of his money. I think they'll end up together in the Spring, especialy after seeing the look Bitten sends Arnfinn during the scene in the lobby stairs in the Spring promo.

[DRW50]

Thanks.

[DRW50]

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